


Huntresses of Skyrim

by Gojirahkiin



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 16:12:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9665039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gojirahkiin/pseuds/Gojirahkiin
Summary: A fusion of Skyrim and RWBY with a few simple premises:1) Lore, not gameplay, has the last word.2) This is Tamriel, but featuring RWBY's Auras, Semblances, Dust, Grimm, weapons, and combat.3) Yang Xiao Long is the Dovahkiin.4) The mods I think are best are all in effect, and will be highlighted at the end of each chapter.





	1. The Road to Riverwood

_Skyrim’s wildlife is timid and prefers to avoid people whenever possible. Skyrim’s Grimm, on the other hand, are some of the most ferocious in Tamriel._

“I still think we should’ve stopped in Ivarstead.”

“But Yaaang this way is faster. By skipping Ivarstead we can get to Helgen the end of the day. Then we can take a carriage to Whiterun, where _we’ll get to meet the Companions!_ ”

Yang Xiao Long shook her head at her sister’s eagerness, making her long blonde hair sparkle in the Skyrim sun. She walked with a relaxed confidence born from many victorious brawls. Her face seemed set in a cocky grin, lavender eyes sparkling with mirth. She was wearing leather armor and an orange scarf with one shining addition: her pride and joy, Ember Celica. The golden gauntlets could encase her hands and fire explosive shotgun shells. She dressed head to toe in a leather armor covered in a variety of belts and pockets. She needed them for all her ammo and hair care products.

Her half-sister by blood, full sister by all other measures, Ruby Rose was quite different. She was walking alongside Yang, behind her, cradling her weapon like an infant. Crescent Rose was a high-impact sniper-rifle that transformed into a scythe. With that weapon she had become a prodigy at the Imperial Hunters Academy. She wore furs from animals she had hunted down, and like her sister had pockets and belts everywhere. Hers were all dedicated to her weapon; ammunition for the gun and whetstones for the blade. Finally, she wore a red cloak, hood currently thrown back to reveal a childish smile and a pair of silver eyes.

They walked in an amicable silence, simultaneously carefree but alert for the possibility of Grimm on the road. The worst case scenario was probably an Ursa over the hill just before Helgen, but it never hurt to be prepared.

They were not prepared for the sudden earthquake strong enough to knock them over, nor for the deafening roar the accompanying it.

Yang forced herself to roll in front of Ruby, a force of habit born from many years as a big sister, to shield her from anything the tremors might send their way.

Yang felt a gust of wind and saw a familiar trail of roses, letting her know that Ruby had just used her Semblance to dart off and investigate. She looked up and saw that her sister had stopped at the top of the hill. There was also smoke coming from over the hill.

Yang leapt to her feet and fired Ember Celica behind her, propelling herself up to the top of the hill where she landed next to Ruby and immediately understood what had made her stop.

Helgen lay in ruins. Its once mighty stone walls and towers were crumbling, allowing Beowolves to swarm in, and the burning homes within sent plumes of smoke high into the air. But what had made both Huntresses-in-training halt was not the destruction, but the clear cause of it.

Overhead a jet black, honest-to-the-Divines, _dragon_ circled through the smoke. Its scales were blacker than midnight and when it paused in midair to scan the ruins below Yang could see that its eyes were blood red.

Seemingly satisfied with its work, the dragon let out a final roar and flew off into the distance.

Yang was first to snap out of her stupor. She placed a hand on the Ruby’s shoulder, but the younger girl didn’t move.

“Yang… can you hear that?”

“Ruby, there’s nothing but Beowolves and–” then she heard it too.

The Beowolves were snarling and howling, but they were also yelping. There were still survivors fighting down there.

“We have to help them!” Ruby pulled away from her sister’s grip and once more activated her Semblance, charging into battle leaving a trail of rose petals. Yang didn’t even hesitate to run after her, she just ran towards the now-loudest concentration of Beowolf whimpers.

One of the Grimm leapt out of the smoke cloud to ambush her. Yang halted and swung her fist, punching through its armored mask and firing her gauntlet, the projectile carrying the monster away. Alerted to her presence by the shot, a small group of them broke away from the main pack and rushed her. An overhand strike smashed the first one to the ground, and Yang used the force of the impact to launch herself over the survivors. She rotated her body in midair and fired Ember Celica, killing them, and then ran towards the sounds of combat.

As Yang expected, Ruby had done her best to get to the center of the horde. She slammed Crescent Rose down on a monster close to her, striking with the handle rather than the blade. Then she fired the weapon, blowing apart a different Beowolf’s head and cleaving the first one in half. She then darted side to side, whirling her scythe around herself to clear a larger area to work with. One of the Grimm tried to stop her by clawing at her legs, an attack Ruby easily evaded by jumping and shooting, throwing herself across the clearing she’d made into the other side of the pack, but inadvertently exposing the people she had been protecting: a wounded Imperial legionnaire, a frail-looking old man, and a small boy.

Yang leaped into the air and pulled her arm back, slamming the ground with enough force to scatter most of the canine monstrosities, several even landing in the flaming ruins and burning away. Before they could recover and mount an attack she jumped toward the nearest one and performed a flying kick that drove its head into the ground. She immediately swung a left hook into another’s stomach and fired, launching the disintegrating corpse away. She fired at the next and instinctively ducked and performed a leg sweep to trip one behind her.

A large Alpha attempted to maul her and got a mouthful of explosive ammunition for its trouble, and Yang saw Ruby go flying past her with Crescent Rose, drop-kicking a Grimm in her path and then planting the scythe’s blade in the ground to begin sniping others.

“Yang, watch out!”

She immediately whirled and threw a powerful right hook that launched a newly arrived Ursa away, crushing several Beowolves as it landed. A second one burst out of a collapsing house and rushed at her. She delivered a leaping uppercut to its jaw and then kicked it in the ribs, causing it to land beside the first. She took a quick glance back at how Ruby was doing, and seeing that she was a tornado of gunfire and severed Grimm limbs, aimed a quick shot at a Beowolf trying to sneak up on her. This propelled Yang backwards, allowing her to slam her elbow against an Ursa’s back. She felt it snap andknew it would dissolve at that point.

The survivor used the smoke from its vanishing kin as covered for a claw swipe Yang narrowly dodged with a backflip.

She laughed, “Are you even try–“

Then she saw it.

A strand of her hair was caught on the creature’s claw.

Her _hair_.

Her eyes narrowed and reddened, and her hair burst into flames as she triggered her Semblance. If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought that the Ursa looked frightened.

She launched herself at it in a frenzy of punches any pugilist would be proud of, finally striking it so hard that it slammed into the stone rubble and burst into smoke.

Yang took a breath and let her eyes go back to their normal lilac before turning to check on Ruby. Her sister shot one last Beowolf before making eye contact and then darting over to check on the three survivors.

“You two are Huntresses, right?” The soldier received a pair of nods in reply. “Thank you. I don’t know how much longer I could’ve last against that many Grimm. Gunnar, how’s the boy?”

The old man said, “He’s in shock right now but he’ll recover. You have my thanks ladies. I can’t take a horde like that anymore, but I can get Haming to his grandfather in the Rift. Gods guide you Hadvar, Huntresses.” The man then took the boy’s hand and began walking the way Yang and Ruby had initially come from.

Yang reached for Hadvar’s hand and he gratefully accepted her help up. His imperial scout armor, meant to brown with read highlights, was instead an ashy gray with black soot in some places.

Ruby moved to help him support himself but he waved her away. “I can walk on my own, I think, I just need to get to my Uncle’s house in Riverwood and rest up a bit.”

“We’ll make sure you get there!” Ruby announced and Yang smiled. That was classic Ruby – out to save the world one good deed at a time.

The trio started walking down the road leading to the village, and Yang asked, “What happened back there anyway?”

“By your accent, you’re from Cyrodiil, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Have you heard of the civil war in Skyrim.”

“…Maybe?”

“Ruby!”

“I fell asleep in Oobleck’s current events class okay!”

Hadvar chuckled and continued his explanation. “Well, here’s some background, when the Emperor signed the White-Gold Concordat, one of the concessions he made to the Thalmor was outlawing Talos worship. Not much of a big deal in Cyrodiil between everything else that happened, but it causes a lot of resentment here in Skyrim. Native son and all.

“The civil war started because of the ambitions of one man: Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm. He whipped the more traditional Nords into frenzy and turned them into a private army. They call themselves the Stormcloaks and they mostly caused trouble on the outskirts of the holds, until Ulfric murdered the High King. Then they became a full blown rebellion.”

“Okay, but when does the dragon come into the story?”

“Yang!”

“Soon. After months of him slipping through the Legions’ fingers, General Tullius staged an ambush and Ulfric surrendered almost without a fight. We had them in Helgen about to be executed, and that’s when the dragon attacked and just wrecked the place, tore down the towers, shattered the walls, mass death and confusion. Then the Grimm attacked and I thought it was all over… you came just in time. Any sooner and the dragon would’ve killed you, and any later and there wouldn’t have been anyone alive.”

They walked in silence for a time, each processing the day’s events in their own way, until Hadvar stopped and pointed.

“See that ruin up there? Bleak Falls Barrow. Growing up, that place always used to give me nightmares. Draugr creeping through my window at night, that kind of thing. Come on, we’re almost to Riverwood.

They followed the road downhill and then turned to see a trio of standing stones at the edge of the path overlooking Lake Ilinalta.

“What are those?” Ruby asked.

“The Guardian Stones. Three of the thirteen ancient standing stones that dot Skyrim’s landscape. Go ahead, see for yourself.”

Yang and Ruby approached the stones and carefully examined the insignia on each in the afternoon light. On the left was cloaked figure clutching a sack of goods – the Thief Stone. In the center was a robed, bearded man holding a staff – the Mage Stone. Finally, on the right was a figure in armor, bearing a shield and axe – the Warrior Stone.

Both Huntresses in training touched it, and a light seemed to flicker and fire into the sky as it blessed them.

“Warrior, good. I knew you two were warriors the minute I laid eyes on you.”

As the three of them set off down the path once more, Hadvar said, “You know, we could use people like you in the Legion. A pair of Huntresses would be really useful in the war effort, and if the rebels have a dragon or woke one up, General Tullius is the only one who can stop it.”

Whether Hadvar expected an answer or not, he didn’t press them for one as they walked.

As the sun was beginning to set they came upon a small village surrounded by forest, and Hadvar said, “There’s my uncle, the blacksmith. I don’t know where you’re going, but once I tell him what happen I’m sure he’ll help you out. Uncle Alvor! Hello!”

* * *

**Author’s Note:** just this once, my author’s note is going to be part of the chapter since AO3 seems unable to make chapter 1 notes apply _only_ to chapter 1. So, let’s begin. The only mods that could feasibly apply to this chapter are the various ones that provide a different start. My 2 favorites are “[Alternate Start – Live Another Life](http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/9557/?)” by Arthmoor and “[Skyrim Unbound (Alternate Start)](http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/71465/?)” by chinagreenelvis. I suggest checking them both out – they manage to do the same thing in some dramatically different ways.


	2. To Whiterun

_The relations between Auras, Semblances, and Magicka are complex. Every living thing is born with at least a drop of Magicka, even if they shun the Cunning Craft. All those with Souls possess Auras – even those with White Souls. However, only those with Black Souls – Man, Mer, the Beast Races, and Daedra – possess Semblances, and one’s Semblance says something about one’s very essence and destiny. The relationships were muddled for so long because there are some Semblances that grant greater power or control over Aura and Magicka._

* * *

“Hadvar? What are you doing here?” A blonde, bearded man carefully put down his tools and stepped away from the forge and started approaching. “Are you on leave from–” He did a double take at his nephew’s condition. “Shor's bones, what happened to you, boy? Are you in some kind of trouble?”  
  
"Shh. Uncle, please. Keep your voice down. I'm fine. But we should go inside to talk."  
  
"What's going on?” He looked up at Yang and Ruby who stood to one side. “And who are these?”  
  
“They’re friends. Saved my life, in fact. Come on, I'll explain everything but we need to go inside."  
  
“Hi, I’m Yang.” Yang waved.  
  
“And I’m Ruby.”  
  
"Okay, okay. Come inside, then. Sigrid will get you something to eat, and you can tell me all about it."  
  
The two Huntresses followed Hadvar into his uncle’s home. Yang glanced around the cozy home and saw a little girl in her nightgown, almost ready for bed, getting up to see what was going on.  
  
“Sigrid!” Alvor called. “We have company!”  
  
A red-haired woman ascended from a staircase in the far corner. "Hadvar! We've been so worried about you! Come, you three must be hungry. Sit down and I'll get you something to eat." She walked to the pantry and gathered some ingredients before walking to the stew pot as the others seated themselves.  
  
"Now then, boy, what's the big mystery? What are you doing here looking like you lost an argument with a cave bear?" As Alvor spoke, the little girl moved closer and sat on the nearby bed.  
  
Hadvar took a deep breath, and let it out. "I don't know where to start. You know I was assigned to General Tullius's guard. We were stopped in Helgen when we were attacked by...a dragon."  
  
"A dragon? That's ridiculous.” Alvor replied incredulously. “You aren't drunk, are you boy?"  
  
“We saw the dragon too.” Yang added.  
  
“And we’re not drunk.” Ruby said proudly. “I drink milk.”  
  
That brought some snickers from everyone assembled, Yang included.  
  
"Husband.” Sigrid chided, “Let him tell his story."  
  
"Not much more to tell. The dragon flew over and just wrecked the whole place. Mass confusion. And then the panic drew in whole packs of Grimm. I don't know if anyone else got out alive. I doubt I'd have made it out if not for my friends here. I need to get back to Solitude and let them know what's happened. I thought you could help us out. Food, supplies, a place to stay."  
  
“Of course!” Alvor replied with more force than might have been necessary. “Any friends of Hadvar’s are friends of mine, I’d be glad to help however I can. But I need your help.” He looked towards Yang and Ruby, “We need your help. The Jarl needs to know if there's a dragon on the loose. Riverwood is defenseless...You need to get word to Jarl Balgruuf to send whatever soldiers he can. If you do this for me, I'll be in your debt."  
  
“You can count on us!”  
  
“Yeah! But, uh, where are we sleeping? I only see two beds.”  
  
Sigrid chimed in as she started placing bowls of what smelled like venison stew on the table. “You might have to stay at the inn. The food is good enough and the beds are warm, but there’s not much else to say about it.”  
  
Apparently the little girl could not contain herself anymore and burst out, “Hadvar, did you really see a dragon? What did it look like? Did it have big teeth?”  
  
“Hush Dorthe, don’t pester your cousin.”  
  
“Yes, Mama.”  
  
“So,” Alvor began as the group ate. “What brings a pair of Huntresses all the way from Cyrodiil? Not often we get visitors in Riverwood.”  
  
Ruby tried to talk with her mouth full, but was unintelligible, so Yang answered, “Ruby graduated early from the Imperial Hunters Academy and now she wants to join the Companions. Dad and I are so proud of my baby sister!”  
  
Ruby finally swallowed her mouthful and stuck her tongue out, then added, “Yang’s going to try to join the Companions too, but she wants to travel the world and decided to start with Skyrim.”  
  
“Yang?” Dorthe sounded confused.  
  
“Yang Xiao Long,” she smiled at Dorthe. “I have some Akaviri ancestry so my parents gave me an Akaviri name. It means ‘Little Sun Dragon.’ Weird coincidence with what happened today.”  
  
The rest of the meal passed in silence, and the duo gave their goodbyes as they left the house and turned towards the inn, known as the Sleeping Dragon.  
  
“You didn’t spend all our money on sweet rolls again, did you Ruby?”  
  
The girl in question rolled her silver eyes. “No more than you spent on your hair.”  
  
“Sounds fair. We should still have plenty for rent then. Come on.”  
  
Yang opened the door and swaggered in. Ruby followed somewhat awkwardly a moment later, until she was distracted by the scene in progress at the bar.  
  
“Orgnar.” The speaker walked out of a room, revealing a woman with short hair and a blue dress. “Orgnar! Are you listening?”  
  
“Hard not to.” The barkeep gruffly replied.  
  
“The ale’s going bad.” She paused, apparently waiting for a reaction. “Did you hear me?”  
  
“Yep. Ale’s going bad.”  
  
“I guess you don’t have potatoes in your ears after all. Just make sure we get a new batch soon.”  
  
Yang and Ruby walked up to the bar as the woman walked away to work at a nearby alchemy station, giving them a suspicious look.  
  
“So how much for a room? And do you make strawberry sunrises?”  
  
“I’m just the barkeep, and there’s no strawberries this time of year in Skyrim. Ask Delphine if you want to stay, she’s the innkeeper.”  
  
Orgnar gestured to the woman who’d been talking to him when they came in.  
  
The woman didn’t look up at them as they approached, but Yang could’ve sworn she saw a slight change in her posture, a hint of readiness, but she shrugged it off as a figment of her imagination. “Hey, we hear you’re the innkeeper, and we’d like to stay the night. How much is it for a room?”  
  
Delphine replied, “Ten Septims and it’s yours for a day. It’ll be the one on the left.”  
  
Yang counted out ten coins and handed them over. “Go on Ruby, I’ll be there in a minute.” Sensing that neither Delphine nor Orgnar were conversationalists, but that Delphine wasn’t very friendly, she walked up to the barkeep while her sister went to their room.  
  
“So, any interesting gossip around town?”  
  
“Well, we have something of a love triangle: Faendal and Sven, both vying for Camilla’s affections.”  
  
“Ooh, anything else?”  
  
“Lucan, the owner of the local store, said his shop was broken into. Oddly enough, he said hardly anything was stolen. That’s it for local news.”  
  
Yang thought about investigating the theft, but then she yawned and realized just how sleepy she was. Fighting off a horde of Grimm was tiring work. And besides, telling the Jarl about a dragon attack definitely took priority. She thanked Orgnar for his time and went to her room, where Ruby was already curled up and sleeping. She smiled at her baby sister and snuggled up with her. Ruby murmured something about sweet rolls, and Yang giggled before falling to sleep.  
  
They woke the next morning and purchased some apples for the road before heading out, and took a moment to check on Hadvar.  
  
“Good luck to you both. And if you do decide to join the Legion, I’ll be sure to put in a good word for you when I make it back to Solitude.”  
  
The got to bridge out of town when Ruby smiled at her sister and asked, “Race to Whiterun?”  
  
“Only if you don’t use your Semblance.” Yang smirked when Ruby stuck her tongue out in lieu of protesting.  
  
They broke into a sprint, and stayed about even as they disappeared into the lightly wooded area along the path, but soon slowed to a speedy jog as they admired the scenery.  
  
Dappled sunlight filtered through the leaves of many trees illuminated individual cobblestones, and to Yang’s amusement Ruby made a game of only stepping on what was lit up. To make things even better, it seemed that all of the local Grimm had been drawn away by the dragon attack, and so the route seemed completely safe. A few deer ran deeper into the forest as they passed, and a few wolves shrank back into the shadows, but there were no real threats.  
  
As the sun rose higher in the sky and the path curved once again, they slowed to eat some of their apples and talk. Or rather, Yang started to talk. Her big sister senses were tingling and they told her that something was bothering Ruby.  
  
“So, don’t you think it’s weird that we saw a dragon yesterday?”  
  
Ruby nodded while chewing on an apple. That was a dead giveaway. Happy Ruby spoke with her mouth full.  
  
“Ruby… c’mon, tell me what’s wrong. Did you leave a cute boy behind in Cyrodiil?”  
  
That made her sister almost choke on the apple and snort with laughter. Much better.  
  
“Yang!”  
  
She laughed freely at her sibling’s embarrassed denials. But Yang sobered quickly when Ruby spoke again.  
  
“I was thinking about Mom again.”  
  
Oh dear. That wasn’t good.  
  
Summer Rose had been a wonderful mother to Ruby, and had loved Yang as if she’d been her own child. She had also been an amazing Huntress, which made it all the more baffling and distressing to everyone when she accepted a routine mission in Skyrim and then never came back.  
  
Yang extended a comforting hand and Ruby leaned into it like a touch-starved puppy.  
  
“I just… after I saw the dragon I started wondering, what if Mom tried to fight it and that’s why she’s…”  
  
Ruby couldn’t finish and Yang pulled her into a hug as they walked. Yang reached into one of the few satchels she had not dedicated to ammunition or her hip-length hair and pulled out a lavender handkerchief and used it to wipe away Ruby’s tears.  
  
“Remember Ruby, she loved us and would want you to be happy. And Dad and I will always be there for you. Always remember that, okay?”  
  
On the last word she made sure to squeeze her sister extra hard.  
  
“Pleash Shtop,” Ruby croaked, so Yang let go, and Ruby made a show of taking a deep breath.  
  
“You know what else I remember Yang?”  
  
“What Ruby?”  
  
“That we’re having a race!”  
  
And then she darted off at top speed in a cloud of rose petals.  
  
“Hey! We said no Semblances!”  
  
Yang ran after her, feigning anger, but pleased that Ruby was happy again. Ruby would know she wasn’t truly angry because her irises hadn’t turned red.  
As the sun moved from it’s zenith to the west, they took a short break to appreciate the sight of the waterfall and the White River. From this edge of the path it was possible to see Whiterun on the hill, picturesque farms and windmills just outside its walls dotting the landscape.  
  
“Come on Ruby, we’ll get to the city before dark if we hurry, and then tomorrow you’ll get to meet the Companions!”  
  
Ruby’s broad, childlike grin was its own reward and the two young Huntresses set off down their darkening route, until finally stepping out of the treeline onto the flat plains of Whiterun Hold.  
  
The route from here was much clearer. They turned to the west, the bridge leading towards the Rift behind them, and passed the Honningbrew Meadery. Yang was beginning to think she’d have enough time to ask someone at the inn about – flying fence posts?  
  
The sisters glanced at each other after a second one flew over their head and fired their weapons down, launching themselves high enough into the air to see what was going on.  
  
There was a giant on one of the farms just ahead, and it was currently trying to keep a trio of warriors at bay by ripping out parts of the fence and throwing them like spears.  
  
They were about to propel themselves forward when they were almost hit by another fence post. They decided to land before rushing in to help, so they’d be lower than future projectiles.  
  
Ruby was off like a shot the moment they hit the ground, trailing her trademark rose petals, and Yang struggled to keep up with her sister’s super speed. She saw that her sister stopped by a small stone wall and positioned Crescent Rose in it’s rifle form to begin sniping the giant.  
  
No longer a speck on the horizon, the creature was at least twenty feet tall, it’s pale grey skin contrasting the brown furs and yellowed bones it wore. Yang heard the telltale sound of Crescent Rose firing it’s high impact rounds, but after the first one narrowly missed its head the giant used its enormous club – apparently a mammoth’s femur – to block each shot.  
  
This allowed one of the three warriors they’d seen to rush in, sword and shield raised, but her war cry alerted the creature and as it blocked another of Ruby’s shots it pivoted and swung it’s club, slamming it hard against the shield. The impact created a thunderous boom and a gust of wind that nearly knocked Yang off her feet.  
  
Still trying to steady herself, Yang saw the second warrior – a tall man in heavy armor who carried a greatsword – leap into the air for an overhead slash. The giant saw the strike coming and raised its club to block it, but the force nearly made its legs buckle, and the shield-maiden knocked the club from its hand, allowing her comrade to get a devastating strike that made the beast’s Aura visibly flicker and caused it to stumble backwards. It tripped over a fence and fell into an enclosure containing a cow, kicking up a cloud of dust.  
  
As the dust almost cleared, the giant appeared, holding the cow by a leg and threw it at the warriors. The shield-maiden leaped in front of her comrade, but the force of an entire cow still struck both of them, causing all three to tumble across the ground.  
  
By now Yang looked back to see why Ruby wasn’t shooting and saw that she had moved to cover the fallen fighters. When she looked back, the third warrior had jumped into the fray.  
  
A woman with fiery red hair and fearsome warpaint leapt over a clumsy swipe of the giant’s hand and fired arrow after arrow at it, but each one bounced off the creature’s Aura. Yang jumped at the creature and prepared to cave its ugly face, but the giant caught her leg and looked at her almost incredulously. Upside down and infuriated, Yang fired Ember Celica directly into its face.  
  
This was a mistake.  
  
The giant began pounding her against the ground, moving its arm in a rapid figure-eight motion, alternately smashing her back or front against the earth. Yang felt her anger rising, but also felt herself getting dizzy. Moments later she suddenly heard explosions and went flying, crashing into something.

* * *

Helping the two warriors disentangle themselves from the cow, Ruby heard Yang leap at the giant and assumed all would be well. Then she heard Ember Celica fire without the accompanying impact of a fist and knew something was wrong, looking up in time to see the giant abusing her sister.  
  
“YANG!”  
  
But before she could react, the red haired archer was already acting. Nocking several arrows that Ruby could see were infused with red Dust, she fired several near the giant, and one at its elbow, drastically reducing its Aura and forcing it to let go.  
  
The archer was about to rush in despite being out of arrows, but assured of her sisters’ immediate safety, she called out “Wait!”  
  
“You do know the giant is about to kill her, don’t you?”  
  
Ruby shook her head. “Yang gets stronger the more hits she takes. That’s her Semblance. The giant just needed to let her go.”  
  
As Ruby spoke, dust, cabbage, and wood went flying and the giant suddenly flinched away from something bright.  
  
As Ruby had predicted, Yang had activated her Semblance. Her hip length hair was now ablaze with golden fire and her normally cheerful lilac eyes were blood red and full of rage.

* * *

Yang stood up to see the giant shrinking back from the intensity of her anger, but on seeing that she was alive, it swung a fist at her.  
  
Yang punched the oncoming fist and the giant stumbled back, looking shocked. With a primal scream of anger she leaped forward and began pounding every part of the creature she could reach. At first this was just it’s legs and knees. Then it dropped backwards from pain and she could reach its torso and head. She became a flurry of fists, gunfire, and empty shells of used ammunition until finally she pulled back and swung with all her might.  
  
The force of her punch sent the giant backward, carving a trench in the ground, through a large rock behind the farm and through a tree until it collided with the hill beyond. It would not be getting back up.  
  
“That takes care of that,” said a firm, feminine voice.  
  
“Yang, are you okay?” asked a more familiar one.  
  
She turned her gaze to Ruby and the three warriors, and she felt her eyes change to their normal color. It was an odd, but comforting sensation. Yang nodded as she took a calming breath.  
  
The warrior with the greatsword looked from Yang to the destruction caused by her punch to the giant, and back again.  
  
“You seem strong. Come to Jorrvaskr, and be a Companion!”  
  
Ruby gasped, “You three are Companions?”  
  
The shield-maiden nodded and replied, “I’m Ria, the newest member, and these two are members of the Circle. Farkas,” she gestured to the man. “And Aela the Huntress,” she gestured to the woman.  
  
With each word Ruby’s grin got bigger and bigger, until finally the excitement was too much for her to contain.  
  
“Can I have your autographs?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author’s Note:** No mods to highlight this time, just some scenery, some emotion, and another fight scene. Please let me know what you think I did well and what you think I did poorly, that way I can improve in the future.


	3. To Bleak Falls Barrow

_Grimm first appeared either just before or just after the end of the Mythic Era, coinciding with the disappearance of dragons. Most scholars believe that the dragons were their natural predators, and their deaths lead the Grimm to reproduce out of control._

* * *

The next morning, Yang was still giggling at Ruby's enthusiasm.

"'Can I have your autographs?' Ruby you are so adorable sometimes!"

Ruby frowned. "When  _I_  become a Companion,  _I'll_  give people my autograph!"

Yang just laughed harder as she led her sister out of the Bannered Mare.

They had arrived too late to visit the Jarl, so they had spent the night for another ten Septims. On the plus side, despite the city being on lockdown because of a dragon sighting, the guards didn't try to stop them entering.

Walking in the company of the Companions was the best endorsement possible.

In the light of day, Whiterun was a bustling city, filled with people and beautiful wooden architecture, tiled roofs of numerous shades glinting in the morning sun, and the interplay of light and shadow highlighting intricate patterns etched into walls and doors.

As they ascended up the hill towards the Jarl's residence they passed a dead tree outside of a temple and a priest screaming a sermon about Talos at the top of his lungs. Ruby let out a whine like a puppy because to their immediate right was Jorrvaskr, legendary mead hall and home of the Companions – and not their destination at the moment.

Their destination was directly up the stairs, at the very top of the hill that all of Whiterun was built on: Dragonsreach.

Yang pushed open the doors, and while she wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, it wasn't quite what she saw.

Leading from the main entrance to the door was an ornate rug. On either side were tall wooden pillars with intricate knots carved into their bases, arches seemingly fused to them supporting a second floor. Banners bearing the white and yellow colors and horse's head emblem of the hold hung all across the main hall, and a trio of chandeliers and a fire pit provided illumination. Finally, she could see at the far end of the hall what must have given the palace its name: a dragon's skull, mounted just over the throne.

While no guards moved to stop them, she could see that they were eyeing both of them warily. Ignoring it, she ascended the stairs.

Beyond the fire pit set between the two long dinner tables, Jarl Balgruuf the Greater sat on the throne, listening and occasionally speaking to a bald Imperial that Yang could only assume was his advisor. As she and Ruby got closer, a Dunmer woman in leather armor drew a sword and stepped into their path.

"What is the meaning of this interruption?" she demanded in a cold tone. "Jarl Balgruuf is not seeing any visitors."

"Alvor sent us. Riverwood is in danger."

Yang added, "A dragon destroyed Helgen, and he's afraid Riverwood is next."

"You know about Helgen?" the elf asked, sheathing her sword. "That explains why the guards let you in. The Jarl will want to speak to you personally. Approach."

The Jarl was currently speaking to one of his advisors, a balding man in fancy robes, but both ceased and looked up as Yang and Ruby got closer.

"So, you were at Helgen. You saw this dragon with your own eyes?"

"Yes. We got there just as it was leaving and–"

"It was huge!" The girl in the red cape tried convey it's size by spreading her arms. "The size of the inn and black as a Grimm, and–!"

"Ruby!" Yang hissed.

If the Jarl was put off at all by Ruby's exuberance, he didn't show it. He immediately looked to his advisor.

"What do you say now, Proventus? Shall we continue to trust in the strength of our walls? Against a dragon?"

Proventus didn't get a chance to reply. Irileth spoke first. "My lord,we should send troops to Riverwood at once. It's in the most immediate danger. If that dragon is lurking in the mountains…"

"The Jarl of Falkreath will view that as a provocation!" Proventus burst out, speaking with a Cyrodiilic accent. "He'll assume we're preparing to join Ulfric's side and attack him! We should not–"

"Enough!" Balgruuf bellowed. "I'll not stand idly by while a dragon burns my hold and slaughters my people! Irileth, send a detachment to Riverwood at once."

"Yes, my Jarl."

"If you'll excuse me, I'll return to my duties." Proventus added.

Looking to him, the jarl replied, "That would be best." He then looked back to Yang and Ruby. "Well done. You sought me out, on your own initiative. You've done Whiterun a service, and I won't forget it. Here, take this as a small token of my esteem." He handed them both an amulet enchanted to resist fire. "There is another thing you could do for me. Suitable for someone of your particular talents, perhaps. Come, let's go find Farengar, my court wizard. He's been looking into a matter related to these dragons and...rumors of dragons."

Balgruuf stood up from his throne and gestured for them to follow him, and he led them off to one side of the palace, through a doorway into a sparsely decorated room filled with arcane objects.

To the right was a simple partition with a map of Skyrim pinned to it. Immediately in front of them was a table covered in books and pink crystals Yang vaguely recalled as being soul gems. And beyond that were a pair of tables against the wall: one with an alembic for alchemy; and the other with a skull, crystal ball, and sigils carved into it's surface. An enchanting station.

"Farengar," The jarl called out, "I think I've found people who can help you with your dragon project. Go ahead and fill them in with all the details."

A man in dark blue hooded robes emerged from a room on the left.

"So the Jarl thinks you can be of use to me? Oh yes, he must be referring to my research into the dragons. Yes, I could use someone to fetch something for me. Well, when I say fetch, I really mean delve into a dangerous ruin in search of an ancient stone tablet that may or may not actually be there."

Yang and Ruby glanced at each other. Ruby shrugged as if to say, "Why not," and Yang smirked.

"Alright, where are we going and what are we fetching?"

"Straight to the point, eh? No need for tedious hows and whys. I like that. Leave those details to your betters, am I right?"

Yang clenched her fists, and Ruby grabbed her arm. Out of the corner of her eye, Yang could see her sister subtly shaking her head no, and the Jarl standing behind them quietly looking at Farengar with something akin to exasperation.

"I, ah, learned of a certain stone tablet said to be housed in Bleak Falls Barrow – a 'Dragonstone,' said to contain a map of dragon burial sites. Go to Bleak Falls Barrow, find this tablet – no doubt in the main chamber – and bring it to me. Simplicity itself."

"You can count on us." Ruby spoke for them both since Yang was still trying to reign in her temper.

"Ah, speaking of errands, that reminds me of something. Could you deliver these Frost Salts to Arcadia at her shop?"

"Do I look like a courier to you?" Yang snapped.

Farengar appeared to give her a quick look up and down and replied, "Worn, scuffed armor, dust everywhere, scruffy appearance, and messy hair. I'd say you do."

Yang's eyes flared red and she took a step forward – only to be jerked backwards out of the room by Ruby in a burst of rose petals.

"Okaywe'lldeliverthesaltsandgettheDragonstonebye!"

Yang briefly forgot her anger, impressed at the sheer speed with which Ruby was pulling her along. Her feet weren't even touching the ground right now.

Then Ruby abruptly stopped, and Yang almost fell backwards trying to regain her balance. She turned to glare at her sister, but Ruby had already entered the shop. Yang glanced at the sign and saw that it said "Arcadia's Cauldron." Ruby emerged a few seconds later, blushing madly.

"Okaylet'sgo!"

Yang anchored herself this time and held on tight.

"Not until you tell me what happened in there." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder at the shop.

"Oh." Ruby looked awkward for a moment. "Arcadia said the salts are for a love elixir. And that she's thinking of testing it on Farengar. Then she gave me all of these." Ruby pointed at a trio of new potions on her belt, labeled as providing brief invisibility, enhanced stamina, and momentary improvements to the understanding of the Illusion school of magic.

Yang laughed, all anger forgotten at the image of the condescending wizard drooling like a dog at the sight of someone.

* * *

The next morning they were in Riverwood again and preparing for their trip to the barrow that loomed ominously over the town. They entered the general store to get supplies and heard an argument.

"Well one of us has to do something!" shouted a woman.

"I said no! No adventures, no theatrics, no thief-chasing!" a man replied.

"Well what are you going to do then, huh? Let's hear it!"

"We are done talking about this!" the man suddenly noticed Yang and Ruby. "Oh, customers. Sorry you had to hear that."

As the Huntresses approached the counter the man slipped into business mode, "I don't know what you overheard but the Riverwood Trader is still open, feel free to shop."

"Did something happen?" Ruby asked.

"Uh, well yes, we did have a bit of a break-in. But we've still got plenty to sell! Thieves were only after one thing: an ornament in the shape of a dragon's claw, made of solid gold."

As Ruby was picking out healing salves and Aura restoratives Yang remembered hearing about this break in during their first stay in Riverwood. "We could get the claw back for you."

"You could?" The excitement in the store owner's voice was palpable, "I've got some gold coming in from my last shipment. It's yours if you get my claw back."

"Sure. We just need to take care of some business at Bleak Falls Barrow first."

The man looked at her almost skeptically. "That's convenient; that's where the thieves are most likely holed up."

"Oh. Well then we'll be back even sooner."

"So this is your plan Lucan?" the woman sitting behind them asked.

"Yes. So you don't have to go now do you?"

"Oh really? Well I think your new helpers need a guide."

Lucan sputtered, and muttered something that sounded like "Camilla," but relented. "Oh, by the Eight, fine! But only to the edge of town!"

She led them out the door and said, "We have to go through town and over the bridge to get to Bleak Falls Barrow. You can see it from here though." She pointed, "The mountain just over the buildings."

As she started walking them toward the bridge she continued, "Those thieves must be mad hiding out there. Those old crypts are filled with nothing but traps, trolls, and who knows what else! I wonder why they only stole Lucan's golden claw. I mean, we have plenty of things in the shop that are worth just as much coin. Lucan found the claw about a year after he opened the store. He never quite explained where he got it. He's a tricky one."

Yang glanced at Ruby, and saw that her sister was making funny faces as Camilla rambled on.

"This is the bridge out of town." Yang resisted rolling her eyes and saying that they'd noticed. "The path up the mountain to the northwest leads to Bleak Falls Barrow. I guess I should get back to my brother. He'll throw a fit if I take too long. Such a child!"

"Do you know how far it is?" Yang asked.

"Well, it's a winding road up the mountain just ahead. You'll know you're in the right place once you spot the old watchtower. Once you get to the tower head north. Bleak Falls Barrow should be just around the corner further up. I'm afraid I don't know how far that is though."

"Well, good thing it's early then. C'mon Yang!"

For the second time in as many days, Yang felt herself flying as Ruby dragged her along with her Semblance. It was a good thing she'd learned to like having rose petals in her hair.

Of course, Ruby could not run all the way to the barrow – Skyrim is a large province, a full fifth of Tamriel's landmass. She only pulled Yang along until she got to the top of hill where the landscape began transitioning to ice and snow-covered rock. A narrow path showed the way forward.

The sisters walked along as the sun rose higher and higher, and at noon they saw and heard one of the province's worst denizens.

White fur, gray armored hide, and (perhaps most tellingly) three eyes marked this creature as a frost troll. It spotted them and started charging.

Yang got into a defensive stance but Ruby interrupted, "I got this one."

She saw her sister transform Crescent Rose into it's scythe form and slam the blade into the ground, creating a monopod. Then she loaded it with fire Dust ammunition.

Yang smiled. That had probably been the one useful thing they'd gleaned from Professor Port's stories: trolls had nearly nonexistent Auras, but healed rapidly from anything apart from fire damage.

A shot rang out, and one of the beast's eyes seemed to implode shortly before the creature's head detonated. It's body kept moving forward solely due to momentum and landed at Yang's feet. Without missing a beat, Ruby walked up to the carcass and started slicing I open to get at the fat.

"Ruby, you do know that people pay a lot more for troll skulls than troll fat, right?"

Ruby nodded and replied, "But if Skyrim is like home, the local alchemist's give you discounts if you bring the ingredients for the potions you buy, and troll fat can make a potion that increases my skill with my sweetie!" She plucked Crescent Rose off the ground and spun it around while it transformed back into its boxy compact form for emphasis, then she hugged it as if it were her firstborn child. Or maybe her boyfriend. Yang thought it was hard to tell sometimes.

They stepped over the troll corpse and moved on.

Not long after they came to the old watchtower and received an unpleasant surprise: bandits.

"That's close enough!" snapped a one-eyed Nord with a splotch of blue war-paint on his face.

Yang cracked her knuckles and extended Ember Celica from a pair of bracelets into gauntlets, and the Nord raised his axe.

"We just want to go to Bleak Falls Barrow, we don't want to fight you!" Ruby shouted.

"Oh, then go right ahead ladies." The bandit lowered his axe and leaned back up against the tree.

"See Yang," Ruby whispered, "sometimes they can be reasoned with." Ruby headed towards the bend in the path, and after glaring warily at the man, Yang continued after her.

Barely four seconds passed before she heard an arrow whistling towards them. Yang whirled around and deflected it with her gauntlets, knocking it harmlessly to one side, eyes red with rage, and she heard the telltale sound of Crescent Rose extending.

She also saw that the first bandit, the one with the war-paint, hadn't moved, but over the small bridge in the watchtower's doorway was a badly scarred Wood Elf holding a simple bow and readying another arrow.

Yang fired at the elf, and apparently he hadn't trained much because he tried to block it with his simple wooden bow, which shattered into many splinters.

The Nord rushed at her now, but out of the corner of her eye Yang saw Ruby already moving to intercept so she ignored him in favor of focusing on the Elf.

He pulled a dagger from a simple sheath at his hip and Yang almost laughed in pity as he rushed at her, then he suddenly ducked and a spotted grey Khajiit in Nordic armor leaped over him directly at her, claws extended.

Yang blocked both claws easily, but the cat-man's greater weight forced her to back off and take a defensive stance. Ruby, bless her heart and thank the Divines for her skills, was not trying to kill her two attackers, but was also beating them badly with the blunt side of her scythe in the hope of avoiding bloodshed.

The Khajiit was not a master of it by any means, but Yang could see elements of the Whispering Fang style in his moves. There was a certain fluidity to his slashes, each move, even when unsuccessful, transitioning seamlessly into the next. It made it hard to get a swing in.

So she kicked him instead, the blow to his gut staggering him and then she fired Ember Celica. One, two, three explosions echoed over the light mountain wind. The first was mostly stopped by the armor. The second destroyed it. And the third struck vulnerable flesh. The Khajiit bandit retracted his claws and placed his hands over his stomach wound before falling over.

Ruby had the Elf disarmed and pinned, and the Nord seemed to be out cold, but as the redhead looked away, Yang saw the Nord open his eyes and pull out a dagger then rush for her sister.

Even as she called out, "Ruby!" she fired Ember Celica at his raised hand, and the explosion tore off his arm.

With a scream he clutched his stump, but he was swiftly silenced as Yang leaped forward and punched him in the chest so hard that his upper body separated from his lower half.

Ruby glanced briefly at the carnage, then without batting an eye looked back at the Elf.

"Surrender now?"

"I yield, I yield! Just get her away from me!"

Ruby turned away from him and started walking again, and Yang gave him a red-eyed scowl before following. She heard something behind her and turned, but it turned out that Ruby was faster.

The elf had the axe raised high with both hands, and then his arms and head fell from his body. Crescent Rose's blade was stained red.

"Why do they always get back up?" Ruby yelled angrily.

Yang gave her sister a hug before they got to the grim business of looting the dead and cleaning the blood from their weapons. These were not the honored dead whose possessions were sacred, but thieves whose ill gotten gains could be put to better use elsewhere.

They found a few satchels of gold and some vegetables that had frozen in the cold, but nothing else, and so they continued their journey, alert for more bandits.

And that awareness was a good thing. It saved their lives from a hail of arrows as they rounded the corner.

An Orc and two Nords, a man and a woman, all had bows and were all firing them rapidly from their positions on the barrow's elevated entrance.

"I'll draw their fire!" Yang dashed away from her sister and started firing Ember Celica, forcing the archers to move and shoot, throwing off their aim.

As they focused all of their attention on Yang, Ruby pushed her Semblance to its limits, becoming not just a speedy young woman that trailed rose petals, but a cloud of rose petals as fast as a gunshot.

Before they could blink, Ruby was behind them. She placed the blade against one of the archers and fired it, the bullet killing a second archer while the recoil forced her blade through the first's torso, tearing him in half.

The Orc ignored Yang now, dropped his bow and pulling out a two-handed axe. He charged and brought it down where Ruby had been a mere instant ago. She had dashed away, and as the Orc lifted the axe a gain she extended Crescent Rose's blade further, forming a spear, and rushed forward, impaling the bandit.

Ruby cleaned her blade once again on a scrap of cloth cut from a bandit's clothes, and they packed away one of the bows. It looked like an Elven bow, which was rather valuable.

They approached the enormous black doors into the barrow and looked at each other. Yang winked cockily and pushed them open, and the young Huntresses entered Bleak Falls Barrow.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author's Note** : Hello everyone. So, uh, funny story but I've had this chapter on my PC for almost a year because I wanted to wait until I had the chapter afterwards finished to publish it, but then I had to deal with real life stuff and just kind of forgot about it. Sorry about that. Regardless, that long hiatus will hopefully never happen again, and I promise that chapter 4 will debut very, very soon.
> 
> Oh, and mods! My mod list has changed quite a bit, but while there are none to specifically highlight here, that means I just get to highlight the ones I think immerse me more in the world. "Bandolier - Bags and Pouches" is a mainstay in my load order, as are "Cloaks of Skyrim," and "Winter is Coming." "Improved Closefaced Helmets" lets you actually make eye contact with everyone wearing a helmet, and works wonders for immersion. To prevent myself from just pasting my entire load order, I think I'll stop there for now.


	4. In the Barrow

_Dust is best explained to the layperson as crystallized Magicka, but the truth is more complicated. Magicka comes to Nirn from Aetherius by way of the sun's rays, but Dust comes directly from Nirn itself. There are some who claim that Dust is a manifestation of Nirn's own Aura – the very world's Semblance – but most dismiss this as mere fantasy. However, without a revelation from an Elder Scroll, the truth will remain unknown._

* * *

The first thing Yang noticed were the corpses. Not the eons old dead that one might expect, but fresh ones. Mostly skeevers, but there were scattered bandit bodies as well.

The second thing she noticed was the echoing conversation from the other end of the vast chamber.

"The dark elf wants to go on ahead, let him. Better than us risking our necks," said a male voice.

Yang and Ruby did their best to silently move across the chamber. At the pillar in the center Ruby went left and Yang went right to flank the bandits.

"What if Arvel doesn't come back? I want my share from that claw!" shouted a woman.

Yang took up a position atop a tomb, carefully avoiding dislodging the greatsword beside the dead man laid across it.

"Just shut it and keep an eye out for trouble."

And at that moment the man's head disappeared into a fine red mist, and before his partner could react Yang extended Ember Celica and made the punching motion necessary to fire a single shell. Her head disappeared in fire and smoke, and her body burst into flames.

Yang winced. The stench of burning hair and flesh was never good.

Now that the area was illuminated a bit more, Yang saw a locked chest. Most people would have to pick the lock, but Yang was strong enough that she simply punched it, breaking it open immediately. There was some gold and a few potions in it, which she took.

They descended down the nearby stairs and walked through the winding passages, passing numerous ornate burial urns and freshly killed skeevers. Eventually they came to another large chamber and saw yet another bandit with his back to them, but before they could do anything, he pulled a lever and was filled with poisonous darts. He was dead before he hit the ground.

The sisters proceeded cautiously into the next room, and saw that he'd been trying to open a gate, but also that he'd been an idiot. To proceed you needed to solve a simple puzzle, and the solution was written on the wall above: turn the three nearby pillars to display a snake, a second snake, and a whale.  _Then_  pull the lever.

Walking past the gate, Yang found a soul gem and a book about pickpocketing and placed both in a pouch at her side. Then she heard a series of slicing noises and looked around.

Ruby was standing at the top of a staircase in the middle of the room, a small group of dismembered skeevers around her. Yang briefly puzzled over how someone could get past without killing the aggressive things, but it wasn't an important mystery. She took the lead down the spiral staircase, since Crescent Rose couldn't swing properly in tight spaces.

They came to a small, dimly lit chamber with a table in the center. It had a vial of poison on it and a magical scroll. Yang wasn't the best at magic – but she was able to determine that it was a scroll of fireball. She gave both to Ruby. Poison worked much better with weapons that could slice or ammunition that didn't explode, and she trusted her sister not to set her on fire.

Not after the last time she did that.

They took a few steps forward, but just as they were going down a ramp they heard a voice.

"Is someone coming? Is that you Bjorn? Harknir? Soling? I know I ran ahead with the Claw, but I need help!"

There was a skeleton tied up in spider webs at the end of the hall, but Yang and Ruby ignored it; the sound was coming from the next room, not the old bones.

They came to a door completely blocked off by silk. Yang took a step back to let Ruby get some momentum for her swing. Frostbite spider webs were tough and - more relevant to Yang - very resistant to punching.

The webs parted and Yang jumped through, taking a quick look around as she did so. There were a number of open - but thankfully very old - egg sacs, and at the opposite end of the chamber there was a terrified dark elf almost entirely bound. He looked like he was about to say something but then he looked up and screamed.

Yang and Ruby looked up too and saw a  _colossal_  frostbite spider descending from the ceiling. The brown chitinous armor marked this one as having spent a long time underground. The telltale sound of a sniper-shot rang out as Ruby shot through the monster's silken tether, sending it crashing to the chamber floor. The unexpected landing snapped one of it's spindly legs and gave Yang an opening to dart in and start pounding away at it's armor.

The sheer force of Yang's blows was lifting the arachnid off the floor, forcing it to extend its legs more and more, until finally, it pivoted in place and let gravity assist it attempting to impale the Huntress with it's fangs. Yang blocked the strike with her gauntlets, the stone floor cracking slightly beneath her feet from the force of the blow, but she could feel her strength draining away as the venom dripped onto her arms.

"Ruby!" she called out.

Her sister sprang into action, leaping onto the spider's back and driving her scythe into the base of it's abdomen, positioning the barrel of its gun directly over the back of it's head.

She fired once and the monster's Aura blocked it. Twice and its Aura flickered and went out. Finally, a third shot pierced its armor and entered its brain, killing it. Ruby hopped off and Yang used a blast from both gauntlets to throw the enormous corpse aside.

The huntresses turned their attention to the struggling Dunmer.

"Thank the divines you killed it, now please, cut me free!"

"Where's the golden claw?" Yang shouted. She was always the bad cop during interrogations. People found her angry red eyes intimidating.

"Yes, the claw! I know how it all works together, the claw, the markings, the door in the Hall of Stories. Let me go and I'll show you, you won't believe the power the Nords have hidden there."

Yang looked to Ruby, as he clearly could not move to give them the claw, and with a couple of swift and precise swings of Crescent Rose, the dark elf was free.

He stood up, grabbed his bag from behind him… and then took off nearly as fast as Ruby was at full tilt.

"You fools, why should I share the power with anyone? It's going to be aAAAAH!"

Whatever he'd been about to say was cut off by a booming slam that reverberated throughout the temple.

Yang sighed, more exasperated than angry knowing that he was already dead.

"I think I'll let you go first." Ruby said. "I don't want you to get hurt, but we heard what would happen if I went after him at full speed."

Yang nodded, glad that Ruby had that much sense.

The two of them followed the only path forward, a short but winding way that lead them through an offering chamber fill with broken urns and down a set of stairs to a room where their quarry lay dead before an obvious trap surrounded by agitated draugr.

The emaciated, cold-mummified figures turned at the sound of footsteps. One of them banged an ancient sword against an old, rusted shield and shouted at them in a long forgotten language. It sounded like it said, " _Sovngarde saraan_!"

Crescent Rose and Ember Celica rang out as Ruby and Yang opened fire on the draugr. They might have been considered well equipped all those eons ago, but against modern firepower they didn't stand a chance. Yang went to the bandit's body and searched it for the claw. She found potions of quickness and a journal. Ruby whistled from the other end of the chamber and held up a torn bag, containing a sparkling golden claw.

"We could go back since we have the claw now... but do you want to go forward and see what the big mystery is?" Yang asked.

Ruby, always eager for adventure, punched the air and said, "Yeah! Let's go sis!"

They skirted the trap easily, a nasty spiked plate triggered by a false stone on the floor, down the hall into the next room, where their footsteps woke more draugr. Only three, but there was an arch- boom, headshot, never mind, no archer. Yang punched the first warrior into the second. They'd never had a chance.

Then Yang felt a distinct chill in the air, followed by searing cold against her back, and judging from the yelping sound, Ruby did too.

The Huntresses whirled around and found themselves facing a draugr wight, a master of cold magic. However, the undead seemed to have exhausted it's store of magicka as it resorted to a simple frostbite spell. Yang waded through it, the heat from her flaming hair provided some measure of protection and caved it's armor and preserved flesh with a single blow. She then turned around to check on Ruby, who apart from seeming cold appeared fine.

"Okay, let's be a little more careful about what corpses are behind us next time," Ruby said, a tiny bit shaken.

"Yeah, that was nearly a  _grave_  mistake just now, right?" Yang asked, injecting some humor into the situation.

Ruby sighed at the pun and the two of them approached a hall of swinging axe-blades, a simple trap, but a dangerous one. Ruby was about to dash through, but Yang stopped her with an outstretched arm. Pausing to get the timing just right, she punched the flat end of the blade, snapping it off its iron shaft and sending it slicing against the other two axe blades, cutting them off. The trap was still functioning, but instead of being dismembered, potential victims would only be bludgeoned.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Why'd you bother doing that? We could've both gotten through easy."

In response Yang grinned and replied, "Just so I could say I did a favor with you  _axe_ -ing!"

Ruby dove through in a burst of roses while refusing to comment, and Yang propelled herself through with a blast from her gauntlets after getting the timing down again.

Down the next corridor a few draugr stood guard, a simple oil trap between them. Ingenious against past attackers, but no match for modern firepower. They brought down the draugr without triggering the trap. After that it was up a flight of stairs and then down into a mostly natural chamber where a coffin burst open to reveal a new challenger; a hulking draugr that charged towards them.

It swung its greataxe with tremendous force, but Yang was used to blocking those kinds of forces in training and in hunts. She crossed her arms and allowed Ember Celica to absorb the blow, and give Ruby a chance to swing her scythe, decapitating the old bonewalker. No longer distracted by attacking undead, they looked around the room, opening the nearby chest and taking the gold and pulling the nearby chain to open the nearby gate that blocked off a passage following a small stream.

Down the stream through the tunnels lay an open chamber filled with old bones and glowing mushrooms, a few of which Ruby harvested because they were ingredients in smithing potions. At the end of the chamber was a chest containing some coins, arrows, and a scroll of fireball. In the open area below a troll was snacking on a skeever carcass.

Scrolls were valuable, and while this one was clearly meant to deal with the troll, there was a cheaper weapon close at hand. Ruby threw a stone at one side of the room, beneath a rocky overhang, and when the troll moved into position, Yang shot the wall beneath the overhang, causing it to collapse onto the troll, killing it instantly.

They followed the now clear path up and through a winding tunnel that lead to another chamber, this one containing a hulking draugr walking back and forth in front of an ancient wood and iron door. Ruby fired a shot directly at its head, but while it staggered, it only laughed afterward and began approaching them.

Yang leapt into action and the draugr swung it's greatsword at her. Her instincts told her to dodge this one and she allowed it to pass by her, cleaving into the stone floor.

Glad she hadn't taken that directly, she immediately began pummeling the undead, not allowing it a moment to… breathe? Did undead breathe? They had to right, since they could talk and laugh, but no, that made no sense; being dead they didn't have to do anything.

Yang's thoughts were interrupted when the creature finally lost its footing and died again, it's body plowing through the double doors, opening them, but not without leaving a noticeable dent.

The huntresses entered the inner sanctum and followed the path to another hallway full of swinging axes. These looked to be in slightly better condition than the others, so Yang couldn't punch them into uselessness. Instead, Ruby used her Semblance to dart between them and pull the lever to stop them on the other side… which woke the draugr if Yang had to guess from the sounds of opening coffins and Ruby's sheepish expression.

Still, they were trained and armed huntresses. All four draugr went down in seconds - they hadn't been freakishly durable like the one in the previous room.

They continued up the ramp and over the bridge to the door leading to the seal in the hall of stories, the ancient symbols and hieroglyphs indecipherable to their eyes. The ancient nordic doors were said to be impenetrable, but the dark elf had said something about the claw being connected to it…

Yang and Ruby examined the claw and found three symbols on the bottom: a bear, a moth, and an owl.

"Not much of a riddle is it?" Ruby commented.

"Nope. Unless… what if it's not to keep people out, but to keep something else in?" Yang wondered.

Ruby got a determined look on her face and extended Crescent Rose into full scythe mode. "Then we open this door and kill it!"

"That's my little sister!" Yang said, ruffling her hair before she could dart away.

They rotated the walls of the seal until they matched those on the claw, then inserted the talons where they were clearly meant to slow into. With a slow rumble, the seal began to slide down and open the way forward.

Up the stairs beyond the seal they found a cave leading up to a wall and a single coffin beside a large chest. They approached it warily, but nothing happened. However, as they got closer, Yang started hearing chanting. She couldn't understand the words, but the chanting was coming from the wall and so was a strange blue light from some of the etchings on it.

Her vision blurred and the world seemed to go dark for a moment, but Ruby's voice brought her back to reality.

"I can't find the Dragonstone, but that chest has a lot of gold and goodies inside it."

Yang turned to look at her sister, but immediately heard a loud crash as the lid of the coffin burst off and struck the ceiling, shattering into pebbles.

From the coffin stepped a tall draugr, bigger than the other two hulks they'd seen, and clad not in ancient iron or steel, but ebony armor. It laughed at their shocked expressions and reached behind its back for a greatsword that seemed to chill the very air around it.

Yang entered a fighting stance and so did Ruby. This was what the ancient Nords had hidden here, and this was what they needed to put down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author's Note** : So... some good news and some bad news. I'll start with the good: I can write much more regularly now, so the time between chapters should never be so long again. Now the bad: It has been so long since I played Skyrim that I've long forgotten the mods that I was going to highlight across the story. I  _know_  there was one that let you use brute force instead of lockpicks to open chests, but I have forgotten its name. So, the chapter mod-spotlight will no longer be occurring unless there is a severe case of "By the Divines what was that?!"


	5. Draugr & Dragon

_Known in the other provinces as zombies, the draugr of Skyrim are animated for a wide variety of reasons. Some are victims of long gone necromancers, still patrolling their masters' decrepit domains. Others appear to be willing guardians of ancient temples. And still more are believed to have served the dragons in the distant past and been cursed for their crimes._

* * *

Yang launched herself forward and made a quick note that Ruby had as well, going behind the draugr to flank it. Yang's punch hit it directly on the side of its armored face, and the follow-up shot from Ember Celica staggered the ancient monster, but in a display of surprising awareness it moved its greatsword to one side of its head to block Ruby's scythe.

Both huntresses took note of the supernatural frost now creeping down Crescent Rose's edge.

Recovering from the dual attack, the draugr shoved the scythe away with such force that Ruby had to leap over the small creek behind her to avoid falling. Continuing the swing the draugr attempted to bring it down right on top of Yang. Remembering the other draugr, Yang fired her gauntlets and let the force launch her back, allowing the blade to slam against the ground, slicing into the stone floor and leaving a trail of frost everywhere it touched.

The draugr looked at her and almost seemed to grin. It reared back slightly and opened its partially decayed mouth to bellow, " _FUS RO DAH_!"

For a couple of seconds Yang couldn't comprehend anything but pressure against her entire front and pain against her entire back. She almost passed out but somewhere in the delirium of her recent head trauma she remembered that her little sister was still in danger and forced herself back up.

Her vision came back into focus after a couple of seconds and she saw that whatever had just hit her had also smashed her all the way through the wall that had the glowing marks on it and then into a partially through a wooden chest that had been behind it. She'd look through the rubble later. For now she clambered back through the hole. Still feeling dizzy though, she pulled one of the Aura restoratives from her bandolier and drank it. Now all she could do was watch and wait for the potion to go into effect.

Yang saw that Ruby was holding her own, but between the draugr's skill with a greatsword and its ebony armor it seemed she just couldn't get through. Eventually she darted away and started shooting, and that at least seemed to inconvenience the monster, forcing it to use a gauntlet to block the sniper rounds aimed at its face, but Yang saw its posture shift again and once more it cried out in that eldritch tongue, " _ZUN HAAL VIIK_!"

Crescent Rose was seemingly ripped out of Ruby's grasp by an invisible entity, and the draugr began to charge.

Yang practically flew across the room as she leapt once, then twice to get between them. The draugr shifted it's greatsword to get a better angle against her but Yang was ready for that. In one smooth motion her right arm came up and deflected the blade to one side with her gauntlet and then slammed into the monsters armored torso with such force that the ebony itself was dented and the draugr was launched backwards, bouncing off the side of one of the stone pillars into the small creek in the center of the chamber.

Not willing to let it get up, Yang ran after it and jumped down where it had fallen. The impact had shorn off one of the horns on its helmet, and its greatsword was nowhere to be seen. Good. Nothing to stop her from ending the creature's unnatural life.

Kneeling atop it, Yang began pounding away. She'd never been able to dent ebony before, but she didn't question the sudden surge in strength. The creature tried blocking her blows but all this did was damage its own gauntlets. Finally, Yang felt mummified flesh against her fist and knew she had broken through its Aura, but her next blows were both caught. In the absence of its aura, it clearly could not hold her long, but it didn't need to. She heard it inhale as though desperate for breath and then began to speak again.

But this time it was interrupted by a gunshot.

Feeling her eyes go back to their usual violet, Yang looked up and smiled at Ruby - who was currently looking at her with undisguised awe.

"What?"

"You dented ebony! You've never been able to do that before! That was so cool! Even though it does mean we have to sell that for scrap metal or pay a lot to get it repaired, that was still awesome! How did you do that?"

With the adrenaline high leaving, Yang wasn't sure anymore, "I don't know. I guess I got angrier than usual?" She offered the answer, but could see Ruby shaking her head already.

"No, you've been angrier than that and you still couldn't dent ebony before. Maybe it was that spell it cast at you?"

Thinking more now, that did make some sense. She absorbed physical force to add to her own strength, and that had been enough force to send her through what looked like at least three feet of stone.

The sisters gathered the loot from the chamber - an impressive and heavy haul of ebony armor, and enchanted ebony greatsword, and nearly a thousand ancient gold coins - and found the dragonstone they'd come for in one of the draugr's pockets. With everything else that had happened shortly after, Yang forgot all about the whispering wall.

* * *

They returned to Lucan at the Riverwood Trader shortly before dawn (apparently the barrow had been larger than they'd thought) and he expressed his gratitude with another thousand gold coins… and even more because they had to sell off some of the other things they'd collected. Then they went to the inn and - though the innkeeper was gone for some reason - were allowed to pass out at one of the tables for most of the day.

Very stiff that evening, they set out to Whiterun in the night, and there were no hazards on the road. On arrival, they decided they were simply too tired and needed a proper rest, and would visit the Jarl and his wizard the next morning.

The following day, they at last arrived in front of Farengar, but he wasn't alone. Standing beside and speaking to a hooded figure he was rambling, "…something else I found... very intriguing... I think your employers may be interested as well..."

"You have visitors." She said rather curtly.

Yang mostly ignored Farengar once he acknowledged them so that she didn't hear any of his backhanded compliments. Ruby handed over the Dragonstone and they were about to go to the Jarl for their reward when Irileth came running in.

"Farengar! You need to come quickly, a dragon's been sighted nearby." She looked at Yang and Ruby, "You huntresses should come too."

"A dragon!" Farengar gasped, "Where was it seen? What was it doing?"

"I'd take this a bit more seriously if I were you," the Dunmer chided, "If a dragon decides to attack Whiterun, I don't know if we can stop it."

The group ran up the stairs, an exhausted looking guard behind them.

"So," Balgruuf began, "Irileth tells me you came from the western watchtower?"

"Yes my lord."

"Tell him what you told me. About the dragon."

"We saw it coming from the south. It was fast - faster than anything I've ever seen."

"What did it do? Is it attacking the watchtower?"

"No my lord. It was just circling overhead when I left. I've never ran faster in my entire life. I thought it would come after me for sure."

"Good work. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest. Irileth, gather some guardsmen and get down there."

"I've already ordered my men to muster near the main gate."

At that the Jarl turned to Yang and Ruby. "I thank you for recovering what Farengar needed from that barrow, and in return you have my permission to purchase property in the city, but I need your help again. If the dragon is attacking the watchtower, I want you to help Irileth and her men fight it off. You might have only witnessed Helgen, but that means you have more experience with dragons than anyone else here."

"Yes sir!"

"You can count on us."

And with that they ran out of the palace at Irileth's heels. At the main gate she stopped to rally the guardsmen, but Yang and Ruby continued through the gate and down the road to begin scouting.

When they got there, it wasn't a pretty sight, and the stench of roasting flesh was nauseating. Irileth arrived shortly after them and in her own words, "There's no sign of any dragon right now, but it sure looks like he's been here. I know it looks bad, but we've got to figure out what happened here and if that dragon is still skulking about. Spread out and look for survivors - we need to know what we're dealing with."

The scene was grim. Burning bodies and rubble from the tower - which up close appeared to have claw marks all over it and large chunks physically torn out - were scattered across the surrounding plains.

After a few moments of searching though, someone from the tower shouted.

"No, everyone get back! He's still here somewhere! Hroki and Torr just got grabbed when they tried to make a run for it!"

"Guardsman, what happened here, where's this dragon?"

"I don't know-" Then there was a sound like distant thunder but entirely too high pitched… closer to a screech than a rumble. "Kynareth save us, here he comes again!"

Irileth bellowed, "Everyone, find cover and make every shot count!"

Yang and Ruby ran up to the top of the watchtower and took aim. The dragon was massive, easily as large as any of the inns they'd stayed in in their lives.

Booming sounds seemed to herald its approach, and they realized after a moment that those where caused by the flapping of its wings. This was clearly a different one than the black one that had destroyed Helgen. This one was brown with occasional green splotches.

It roared as it came closer and Ruby aimed a shot at its mouth.

Only for it to deflect off the creature's Aura.

Arrows and Yang's shotgun shells followed with similar results. This wasn't good.

The creature saw them atop the tower and opened its jaws wide, but not to roar, rather to shout, "YOL TOOR SHUL!"

Fire came into existence and bathed the top of the watchtower, Ruby leaping off to one side to avoid being burned and Yang leaping up hoping to land on the dragon.

Catching one of its brown spikes, Yang began pounding away at the creature's Aura and hide, bullets, arrows, and the occasional lightning bolt from Irileth flying all around her, even as the monster tried to dislodge her with aerobatic stunts from simple sharp turns to aileron rolls. The creature looked back at her with a baleful eye and a deep rumbling voice said, "You are brave.  _Balaan hokoron_. Your defeat brings me honor." It then dove towards the base of the tower and at the last moment rotated it's entire body and began flying upward, scraping her off against the side of the watchtower.

Stunned, both by its voice and its maneuver, Yang was smashed through the stone of the tower into its second floor. Stumbling to her feet, she peered out of the newly formed tower and saw the dragon come around for another pass, this time grabbing a pair of guards in its talons and dropping them once it flew back up into the air.

It laughed and bellowed, " _Brit grah_. I had forgotten what fine sport you mortals can provide!"

But at last something seemed to garner a reaction. A bullet struck the dragon near the eye and it reflexively flinched in response, only to turn and glare at the figure responsible.

Yang leaped out of the tower in time to see the creature land in front of Ruby. It snapped at her but she used her smaller size and superior speed to dodge and extend Crescent Rose from it's box-like gun form into it's full scythe form and slashed the monster across the face, the sharpness of the blade causing the dragon's Aura to flare visibly as it prevented lasting harm.

Walking on the tips of its wings, the dragon stepped forward and attempted to slam her with one as it moved. One wing-tip pounded beside Ruby and forced her to stop moving, seeming to allow its jaws an opportunity to close on her, only for Yang to leap in from the side with a right hook that knocked the creature off course.

Now Yang was the focus of the creature's face, even as Ruby darted around to begin attacking its wings. The Guardsmen converged as well, putting their bows back on their backs and drawing their swords from their hips.

As Yang became possibly the first person to ever punch a dragon in the face - repeatedly no less - guards slashed at the creature's tail and sides while Ruby danced across its back and slashed at it's comparatively vulnerable wing membranes.

Yang finally broke the monster's Aura and fired a shell directly into its eye, prompting it to scream in agony.

"ENOUGH!  _Thurri du hin sille ko Sovngarde_!"

The dragon lashed its tail, scattering the guards, and reared back dislodging Ruby from her perch, and glaring down at Yang with its remaining eye roared, "YOL TOOR SHUL!"

Fire blasted into the ground at its feet and Yang narrowly avoided being burned alive, but the dragon continued to breath fire as it spread across the ground all around it, ignoring the arrows and bullets that now embedded themselves in its scales.

At last it ceased, but the fire did not simply burn, nor did it dispel. It shifted and coalesced until a pack of fiery werewolves stood before the dragon.

" _Krii daar joor_!"

With a howl made all the more menacing by the crackle of the flames constituting their bodies, the werewolves rushed in different directions as their draconic master took to the skies once again.

Ruby ducked under a flaming claw and took a swipe at one of the werewolves to no effect. A guardsman was less lucky, grabbed and mauled even as he burned alive, dying screaming.

And the dragon was not idle. He began shouting more in that eldritch language. " _IIZ SLEN NUS_ " seemed to freeze unlucky victims in place. " _ZUN HAAL VIIK_ " once again disarmed its targets.

Yang and Ruby got away from the werewolves just enough to share a glance that communicated what they both understood: the only way to banish the flaming werewolves would be to kill the dragon.

They ran up the tower again, and Yang blasted the doorway to collapse, blocking pursuit. Once at the top, Yang hopped atop the side of Crescent Rose and Ruby fired it to gain the momentum needed to launch Yang at the hovering dragon.

Clearly, the dragon had not expected that, its remaining eye widening in shock, but it capitalized on the moment, flying forward and opening its jaws to clamp on the mortal that had taken its eye.

It was a partial success.

The dragon's jaws were indeed locked around Yang, but the huntress was using both legs and one arm to keep the jaws open, using her remaining arm to fire every shell she could into the dragon's mouth.

Dying as Ember Celica shredded his innards, the dragon had one last evil idea. Turning to face the tower it was just able to choke out, " _WULD NAH KEST_!"

Ruby dove off the tower as the dragon launched forward with impossible speed, firing at the ground to slow her fall. There was a fiery werewolf beneath her, ignoring the bullets and opening its jaws… only to vanish.

Ruby looked back at the tower and saw that it had collapsed, parts of the dragon sticking out of the rubble… but Yang was nowhere in sight.

"Yang? Yang!?" Ruby darted toward the tower and began pulling off the rubble, trying to get to her sister.

She was so focused on her self-appointed task that she did not notice the guards and Irileth gathering around her. Nor did she notice when they scattered as the dragon's body began to burn.

But she did notice when the dragon seemed to explode, bones without flesh and stone scattering everywhere… because there in the center, surrounded by a nimbus of energy flowing from the dragon into her was Yang. Battered, bruised, and clearly infuriated that there was dragon drool in her hair, but alive and radiating power.

She heard an awed guardsman murmur, "Dragonborn…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author's Note** : Super draugr and Mirmulnir were quite obviously buffed for this encounter, but there are no mods (to my knowledge) that permit them to do the things I described. Simply put, I made them stronger to match the lore and to stand up to the rigors of RWBY-esque combat. Super draugr came about because of the translation of the word wall in Bleak Falls Barrow: "Here lies The Guardian / keeper of the Dragonstone / and a force of eternal / rage and darkness." As for Mirmulnir's fiery werewolves, that was the dragon's Semblance, a la RWBY. Mirmulnir's name translates as "Allegiance Strong Hunt" and so his Semblance conjured him a loyal pack, ostensibly to flush out hiding prey, but in this case to defend him from attackers.
> 
> In other words, in my story draugr can use nearly any shout a Dragonborn can, and dragons themselves have Auras and Semblances. I hope that was something of a surprise, and that it was enjoyable to read!


End file.
